Rating: NNN
OPEN YOUR EYES (Alejandro Amenábar, 1997) is the Spanish movie remade in America as Vanilla Sky. Odeon Films made the wise decision to re-release this perplexing drama, allowing viewers the chance to compare the two versions. Unfortunately, if you’ve seen Vanilla Sky, then you’ve seen Open Your Eyes, and vice versa. Open Your Eyes stars Eduardo Noriega as César, a womanizer who thinks he’s finally found love with Sofía (Penélope Cruz). However, a jealous girlfriend takes revenge and his face is disfigured — we think. Here’s where it gets confusing, because the story jumps back and forth between César’s dreams and waking reality until it’s unclear exactly what has happened to him. Both Open Your Eyes and Vanilla Sky suffer from the same problem: the first half of the film is incredibly interesting, but as it moves closer to resolving the big mystery, it moves further away from the alluring themes of unrequited love and lost chances. Still very intriguing, it offers acting aficionados the chance to compare an actor — Cruz — playing the same part twice, once in Spanish and once in English. I’ll take Cruz working in her native language any time. NNN